What a strip off! No rush for Team GB kit as fans baulk at £52 price tag

The London 2012 official Team GB supporters Football shirt has received a lukewarm welcome from a leading fans group.

Priced at £52, and part of the range from official sportswear partner adidas, it is described as 'a great gift for the football mad or the Team GB supporter and a unique souvenir of the London 2012 Games'.

However, despite the intricate design from a 'unique, heat reactive fabric', the cost of royal blue top - recently modelled by leading Welsh Barclays Premier League footballers Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey - has caused some debate between fans on Twitter.

Getting shirty: Bale and Rodwell sporting the new Team GB kits

The Football Supporters' Federation feel the price tag could put some already over-stretched fans off.

FSF chair Malcolm Clarke said: 'These are hard times for fans and, while tickets prices are always going to be the prime area of interest for Football Supporters' Federation members, there will be fans out there who feel strongly about this too.

'At £52, I suspect this piece of merchandise won't exactly fly off the shelves.'

A junior London 2012 official Team GB supporter football shirt is £42, while Team GB football shorts are available at £26.

The British Olympic Association do not receive any direct proceeds from the sale of the supporters shirt, which is all shared between London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and official sportswear partner adidas.

Causing a stir: The Welsh and Scottish and Northern Ireland FAs haven't given their consent for their players to take part

While the actual Team GB football kit itself will not be launched until next year, the price of replica strips and merchandise has often been a cause for controversy.

The latest England 'Special Edition Tonal Shirt', in white, will cost some £55, while an adult home top for current Premier League leaders Manchester City retails on their club website at £40.

Great Britain has not entered a team for the Olympics since 1972 and last qualified in 1960.

There remains heated debate about what exactly the make-up of next summer's squad will be, with English duo Stuart Pearce and Hope Powell set to take charge of the respective sides.

The pictures of Wales internationals Bale and Ramsey in the 'limited edition commemorative shirt' caused some controversy as the Football Association of Wales is, along with Scotland and Northern Ireland, officially opposed to its players taking part in the Olympics team.